NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are giving back some of last week’s rally on Monday as bitcoin falls again.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and was on track to break a five-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 224 points, or 0.5%, as of 2:07 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower.
Last week’s rally was largely due to rising hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate next week to help shore up the slowing job market. Such hopes are still high, with traders betting on a roughly 87% chance the Fed will cut at its next meeting, according to data from CME Group.
But yields for longer-term Treasurys nevertheless rose in the bond market Monday. It was part of a worldwide climb for yields after the head of the Bank of Japan hinted at a possible hike to interest rates there.
When bonds are paying higher yields, they can attract investors who otherwise would buy stocks or cryptocurrencies. Higher yields undercut prices for all kinds of investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive.
Bitcoin, which was soaring around $125,000 in October, dropped below $86,000. That’s down roughly 7% from a day earlier.
That in turn sent stocks lower across the crypto industry. Coinbase Global sank 4.9%, and Robinhood Markets fell 4.1%, for example.
Strategy, the company that used to be known as MicroStrategy and now raises money just to buy bitcoin, lost 7.2%. It said that it raised a fund of $1.44 billion in U.S. dollars, not in bitcoin, by selling stock to help pay for its dividends on preferred shares and interest on its debt.
On the winning side of Wall Street was Synposys, which rose 4.9%. It said Nvidia is investing $2 billion in its stock as part of an expanded partnership. Nvidia, which has become Wall Street’s most influential stock, swung from an early loss to a gain of 1.5%.
The market, meanwhile, had a mixed reaction to what seems like a strong start for the holiday shopping season. Consumer spending during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday retailing bonanza was expected to exceed expectations, despite uncertainty over the outlook for the U.S. economy.
Ross Stores rose 1.1%, and Williams-Sonoma climbed 2.3%. But Best Buy fell 1.9%.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid sharp moves.
France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.3%, dragged down in part by a 5.8% loss for Airbus.
The European aerospace giant said Monday that most of its fleet of 6,000 A320 passenger jets have received an update after a weekend software glitch that could have affected flight controls. Travelers faced minor disruptions heading into the weekend as airlines around the world scrambled to push the software updates out after Airbus warned of the problem Friday, one of the busiest travel days of the year.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.9% on worries about the possibility of higher interest rates. Japan’s benchmark interest rate has remained near zero for years in hopes of juicing the economy. Now inflation is holding above the Bank of Japan’s target of about 2%.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.09% from 4.02% Friday.
It briefly slowed its ascent in the morning after a report showed activity for U.S. manufacturers shrank by more last month than economists expected. The weaker-than-expected report could give the Fed further leeway to cut interest rates.
Jobs are under pressure at manufacturers, and the majority told the Institute for Supply Management's survey that they're still focused more on managing headcount than on hiring. Several manufacturers also said tariffs are continuing to make things complicated.
“Conditions are more trying than during the coronavirus pandemic in terms of supply chain uncertainty,” one manufacturer told the ISM.
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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.